Scotland's Museum of Industrial Life
Summerlee is set in 22 acres based around the site of the nineteenth century Summerlee Ironworks.
The museum has many attractions for all the family including Scotland's only electric tramway and recreated mine and miners' cottages and playpark and lots lots more.
Admission is free.
Great Facilities
The great facilities at Summerlee include:
- Superb new exhibition hall with interactive displays
- Scotland's only working electric tramway
- Underground mine and miners' cottages from 1840 to 1960
- Great playpark for tots to teens
- Café and shop.
- Free parking.
A Brief History
Summerlee was formerly one of Scotland's most important ironworks and the remains of its blast furnaces and other buildings can be seen from the view pod and parapet at the north-east side of the main exhibition hall.
Opened in 1836, it used the newly discovered 'hot blast' process. This was a process, patented by James Beaumont Neilson (the younger brother of Summerlee's founder John Neilson), that blew the hot gasses of the production process through the furnaces.
This made the smelting process much more efficient and led to Coatbridge becoming known as the 'Iron Burgh' of Scotland by the 1850s. However, the rise of the steel indusry in the later part of the 19th Century saw iron's decline.
Although heavy industry continued in Coatbridge for many years, strikes and economic depression in the 1920s saw Summerlee's furnaces go out for the last time in 1926. In the late 1930s, the site demolished and the remains of the ironworks were covered over.
Post-war, light engineering companies operated on the site, the last being the Hydrocon Crane Company, whose engineering shed forms today's main exhibition hall - complete with overhead cranes still in place!
The museum you see today was initially opened in 1987 and many attractions such as the tramway, mine, miners' cottages and playpark have been added since.
The latest change has been to the main exhibition hall, now totally redeveloped thanks to a major Heritage Lottery Fund supported investment project.
Why not go for a swim or stretch your legs following your visit to Summerlee? Don't forget the ever popular The Time Capsule and Drumpellier Park are located nearby.